Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-08-26


who shall say they are ready to receive
him. Jores is occupying the small space
made vacant by the death of "0ld Aunt
Sallie Echertp who died March last, just
one year to the day from the time she was
committed for lunacy. Her age was only
10 years The jail with a cell was her
last home on earth. Near Jones is Jane
Mcpherson, aged So years. She was ad-
Judged a lunatc nearly thirteen months
ago She is still in Jail awaiting orders
for removal TO one of the asylums
Upon the rendering of this verdict the
court ordered the discharge Of Jones. On
the next day Jones was brought into court,
and, without hearing or argument, Judge
Newman directed the clerk to rescind the
order of discharge, and commanded the
sheriff to take Jones to Jail, to be held till
he could be lodged in some asylum. On
this rearrost, as il were, Gen1 Williams
asked TO be heard. The answer was, "the
court has decided this case take your
seat The General replied, | will neither
take my seat nor practice before this
court, but will retire, which he did, being
followed with declaration Of $40 fine.
This resembling order | consider judi
cial usurpation in a criminal case, after
it had been disposed Of. which every law
yer, having regard for his profession, and
those personal rights and liberties which
the law is made to guarantee and protect,
should not repress an expression Of his
contempt for, if every gentleman's castle
were converted into Jail and every judge
in the Universe Jenfres or a Newman.
General Williams announced that as the
oldest practitioner at this court he could
not guilty consent to the entry Of fine
for contempt without reasons, and there
fore asked for and obtained bill of ex-
ceptions. The record, after return Of
verdict. reads as follows:
"Whereupon it is considered by the
court that the prisoner be discharged"
"That upon the following day, to-wit,
said Jones was brought into court in Gus
tody of the Sergeant of the town of Wood
stock, and without arraignment, the pro-
ceedings in a case then pending, was sus
pended, and the court made and ordered
the following entry: Ordered, That the
order of court entered on yesterday, dis
charging w. w. Jones from custody, be
rescinded. Therefore. it is ordered, That
the said w. w. Jones be remanded to the
county Jail until he can be removed thence
to one of the lunatic asylums of this State.
"And, thereupon the said James II. Will
lams asked why the order was made that
his duty as counsel, and especially as as
signed counsel required him TO ask why,
and on what grounds, the court had re-
scinded the order, and demanded to be
heard before the accused DO sent 10 Jail,
&c. The Judge replied, that no argument
would be heard on that point that the
court had made up its opinion, and that
the counsel should take his seat. The
counsel James II. Williams, replied, that,
although he was in the midst of an argu-
ment, and there was a jury in the roOm
he would not further appear before n court
that decided without argument on mat
tiers of personal liberty, and would leave
the court room, and did leave it, and,
thereupon, the order aforesaid was render
ed, viz. the fine.
"And the court certifes that as to this
matter these are all the facts proved
"And the said James II Villains, claim
ing TO be aggrieved by the said order, ex-
cepts to the same, and prays that this
record be signed, sealed and enrolled,
which is accordingly done.
"witness my hand this 10Th day Of Au-
gust, 1857.
signedl az. D. NEWMAN
Did ever a court more completely stult-
ify itself 1t discharged prisoner after
verdict, ordered his rearrest without
warrant and sent him to jail as a lunatic,
and fined counsel for desiring to be heard.
To these facts he subscrbes his name in
the exceptions given Genl. Williams. God
forbid that should have less than con-
tempt TOR such proceedings.
Ihave known but three cases that should
be mentioned in connection with this Of
Jones. have known a man to be imprls-
oned in the penitentary for the larceny Of
one bushel of wheat. have known
man to be sent to the penitentiary on
very doubtful charge of forgery involving
Is cents, there to die For this case
the public sentiment Of this county to-day
shames itself have known a man to be
striped by order of j. =. for the larceny
of two bushels Of wheat. But Jones IS
brought. a year after date, only when a
personal enemy is on grand jury service,
| to answer for less ofienses and, in viola
ton Of our usual procedure, tried without
even the form Of preliminary examination
before J. Pa law and custom which
has always obtained even though the ac-
cused we're arrested on bench warrant.
hold that this was grand juror malice
1t is, in my Judgment, an outrage upon
the criminal jurisprudence ofou country.
1t is unjust to the state as well as cruel
and tyrannical to the citizen. The trial
of Jones before J. p. would have cost
few dollars: before a court few hundred.
Each had the same jurisdiction. But no
prosecutor, no grand juror, no person APP
peared to prosecute Jones for the dUJWt
offense Of 1856, till the immaculate Black
berry Moore got on the grand jury in the
grand rounds of the open "tin box" draw
ing. / tried to argue, possibly outside of
court limits, against such procedure IN
our courts. | did express my contempt
for such methods of executing law, which
certain people and parties had said should
be cheap. But beyond this, held the
rights of the citizen to be worthy of more
consideration than they were receiving at
the time, and did not hesitate then, as
do not now, to express my contempt for
a "criminal procedure" that subrogates
the consideration of human rights to fox
scalps. and personal liberty to arbitrary
assumption of ill-gotten power
The sheriff who took me in charge is my
nephew, recently elected for second
term, and he can best state, as he does not
hesitate to, do, that | offered him no
resistance whatever Judge Newman
may have been misled By the confusion
surrounding me as | passed out, but the